Under Mayor de Blasio, even SoHo is dangerous now

Update February 1, 2016- The police blotters have a new SoHo violent robbery to report. A woman was sitting in the park at Duarte Square (that empty plot next to Canal and 6th Ave) when a man approached her asking for the time. As she looked at her a phone, a second accomplice male grabbed her iPhone and ran.

This incident seems to be very similar to the one on North End Avenue where a local teen was approached by a group of males, asked for the time, then they attempt to grab his phone. Be alert of this scam and never use your iPhone in public.

Today, I was in SoHo on some business and spotted NYPD patrolling on foot in the heart of the fancy shopping district. I spoke to one officer. It is a new patrol set up to stop the smash-and-grab felonies that have become routine. The expensive handbags and so forth are easy prey for gangs.

This used to be nonviolent crime. However, one of the robberies led to a shootout recently.

The real answer to this problem is for SoHo business to form a BID, or something like it, and hire private security, armed with guns, to patrol the shopping district. Then, Mayor de Blasio needs to be impeached.